Scald 3-1/2 cups of the milk in a heavy saucepan over direct heat. Mix the corn meal with the remaining 1 cup of cold milk. Add to the scalding milk, stirring constantly. In a double boiler, cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat. Add butter, molasses, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Pour into a greased 1-1/2 quart baking dish. Bake for 1-1/2 hours or until mostly set. There may still be a little wiggle in the center, but the finished pudding should be soft and spoonable but not runny. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Once you master the crust, there's nothing easier--or yummier--than an apple pie! Although my crusts always need some help (and no, I will not buy premade crusts--that's not cooking!), the warm, buttery filling is always delicious!

FYI: Use lots of butter, preferably European or small-dairy butter (you need the grass-fed cows to produce the best butter), for the filling. And go to town with the spices. I like to use cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg. But then I'm a freak!

plain apple pie...or apple-cranberry, with the filling composed of apple slices and fresh cranberries, tossed in a light dressing of melted butter, a little tiny bit of sugar (1 Tbs or so), cinnamon and cardamom (and a pinch of salt). then, of course, baked in a deep-dish pie pan with the top crust latticed oh-so-beautifully!

I modified a recipe i found on the web for a dessert. I'm diabetic now, so I'm working on new ways to do things. So I tried a flourless chocolate cake, and then used Splenda instead of the sugar. Otherwise, it's just the same.

7 oz. semisweet chocolate (I used Nestle's Baking, because I dispatched my father to the store and he apparently saw no other option)4/5 cup of butter1 cup splenda4 eggs, separated

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit2. Line a 9" circular cake pan with nonstick paper (I used wax paper) and grease the paper.3. Using a double-boiler, break the chocolate into small pieces and melt together with the butter.4. beat the egg yolks with half of the sugar5. fold in the chocolate/butter mixture6. beat eggwhites until frothy by using an electric mixer; add the remaining sugar, beating untill stiff peaks form.7. fold in the beaten egg whites.8. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Note: this will collapse.9. Separate from paper with a knife. Warning: no matter what happens, it's gonna stick to stuff.

You should be able to get 8 to 12 slices out of it. It turned out actually very rich, if a bit crumbly on the outer edges.